Gold Coast Commonwealth Games indoor sport venue opens

Organisers of the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games are celebrating their readiness for the Gold Coast event with the announcement of the opening of the Coomera Indoor Sports Centre.

One of three new venues being developed for the Games, the new facility – which will host gymnastics and netball as of 2018 - opened 607 days before the Gold Coast event starts in April 2018.

The 7,600-capacity venue is being put to immediate use with the Queensland state schools volleyball tournament at the new facility this weekend.

The opening of a Games venue 20 months from the start of the event is in stark contrast to preparations for the Rio 2016 Olympics, which were continuing to cause concern 24 hours before the opening ceremony.

Gold Coast Commonwealth Games Corporation Chairman Peter Beattie said the centre highlighted the legacy the event would create in the region.

Beattie stated “the most important message is, this is certainly better than other events around the world - I won’t mention any of them - but the contrast is really dramatic.

“It’s about using these venues before the Commonwealth Games, during the Games and afterwards.”

Earlier this week, the cycling track at Queensland’s new indoor velodrome was also announced as having been completed.

The cycling track is being built at the $59 million world-class facility being built at Chandler, in Brisbane’s south east.

The track was built by renowned velodrome builders SportBAU Schuermann GMBH. The German business has built tracks at seven Olympic and two Commonwealth Games venues.

Commenting on the progress of the velodrome, Queensland Minister for the Commonwealth Games, Stirling Hinchliffe stated “it is exciting to see construction progressing well on our state’s first indoor velodrome, with the 1165 tonne steel superstructure complete and the track installed and certified.

“Long after the conclusion of the Games in April 2018, the Queensland State Velodrome will provide a fantastic legacy for the community, attracting elite training squads, as well as larger national and international cycling events to Queensland.”

Cycling Queensland has already indicated that they will use the venue for national events in 2017 and 2018.

The track was formally inspected by a representative from the Union Cyclist Internationale for certification as an international competition venue in July.

The velodrome is expected to officially open later this year.

Images: Gold Coast Commonwealth Games mascot Borobi at the opening of the Coomera Indoor Sports Centre (top) and the current state of construction of the GC 2018 velodrome at Brisbane's Sleeman Sports Centre (below).

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